59% Of Indian Online Daters Face Risk Of Cybercrime

A recent report has revealed that Indian daters face huge risks from cyber criminals targeting dating sites.

Norton’s new Mobile Survey has revealed that three in five online daters (59%) face security risks on online dating sites, with cyber criminals increasingly attacking these platforms.

And a huge number of people –  64% of women and 57% of men – who admitted to having used online dating platforms said they had experienced security issues.

Among the problems raised were viruses/malware (23%), nuisance advertising (13%), cyber stalking (9%), being tricked into downloading the premium service offered by the site/app (9%), identity theft (6%) and revenge porn (4%).

And considering that 8% of women and 13% of men in India have online dating platforms on their mobile devices, these security issues could potentially be very harmful.

The report also found: “Online dating apps were most likely to have been used at least once by people in Delhi (51%), followed by Chennai (39%), Kolkata (36%), Mumbai (35%) and Ahmedabad (35%).”

And in terms of the worst-hit areas, Chennai and Hyderabad were found to be the areas where most security issues were reported, with 68% and 69%.

Ritesh Chopra, the Country Manager in India for Symantec said: “While there are many legitimate daters on these apps, considering the anonymity, online daters can run the risk of becoming a victim of stalking, harassment, cat-fishing, identity theft, and even phishing scams.”

He added: “The solution is not to panic, nor is it to stop using the apps. Online dating on mobile devices isn’t going away but there are some simple, best practices Indians can adopt to keep themselves, their devices and mobile apps secure.”

The survey was conducted from data from 1,005 Indian smartphone and tablet users aged 16 and above.